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Fri, 08 Nov 2019
Isle of Man Government are preparing for medicine shortages by proposing a new Serious Shortage Protocol to Tynwald.
It followss shortages of some medicines over the last 18 months in the Island and UK, as a result of worldwide problems.
The UK Government has given reassurances that medicines supply is among its highest priorities and measures are in place to closely monitor stock levels.
The new Protocol would be implemented in exceptional circumstances by the Department for Health and Social Care, with guidance from its UK counterpart.
An Order to facilitate this will be brought to Tynwald this month.
A SSP enables community pharmacists, in the event of a shortage in the Island, to supply a prescribed item in a different form than that on the prescription, in accordance with protocols. This means the pharmacist can amend the quantity, strength or formulation of the item requested, without the need to refer back to the patient’s GP or prescriber.
The use of the protocol will not be appropriate for all medicines and all patients, and pharmacists will use their professional judgment to decide which patients need to see their prescriber again if their usual medicine is in short supply.
Minister for Health and Social Care David Ashford said: ‘We have made extensive preparations based on advice from the UK DHSC, and I have spoken on several occasions to my counterparts in Westminster. We have been assured the Isle of Man will continue to be treated in the same way as all UK regions in terms of medicines’ supply. We are taking action to shore-up supplies in the event a difficult scenario arises, including after the UK’s eventual departure from the EU.’
The UK has consistently advised that extra supplies of medicines should not be added to prescriptions at the current time, as this can exacerbate shortages.
If the proposed Protocol is agreed, it will be put in place from 1st December.
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